


Left Behind

by Aurellyn



Series: Void-Touched [1]
Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Angst, Drabble, I cried writing this, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-17
Updated: 2018-04-17
Packaged: 2019-04-24 00:11:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,320
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14343882
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aurellyn/pseuds/Aurellyn
Summary: He doesn’t look at you. In fact, he completely turns his back on you.“I’m not going with you,” he says, only just loud enough for you to hear.Your heart skips a beat and you tense. He’s … staying behind? He’s staying here, in the farthest reaches of space on a void-touched planet? All alone? You have to forcefully swallow the emotional pain that makes it hard for you to breathe.





	Left Behind

**Author's Note:**

> I was just playing World of Warcraft, and I did the final raid of the current expansion and got to see the final cutscene afterwards. And I was WRECKED by it and wanted to vent feelings, so this happened. It's just a dumb little drabble that's extremely emotional and inspired heavily by the events of World of Warcraft: Legion.
> 
> So, here be some feels!
> 
> I cried writing this.

You watch from a distance as the Blood Knight deals the final blow, a swift, clean swipe of one of his sickles that has the head of his foe toppling to the floor. This is a moment you’ve all been waiting for, the moment that you can finally allow yourself to feel safe, the moment where the world can at last be at peace.

Ahead of you, the Blood Knight stands perfectly still, gazing down at the dark-furred body of Noir, the vaguely humanoid, vaguely canine, vaguely avian creature he’s just slain. You see it on his face, in the harsh glare in his glowing, golden eyes and in his bright red irises not unlike your own.

Magic thrums in the air around you, and you see it take shape into several swirling orbs that whirl around the room. They rush past you and into the body of Noir. His form turns almost blindingly white, and then cracks and dissolves into nothing, sparks of magic fading into the air.

You let out a breath of relief. “It’s over,” you whisper to no one in particular, but you hear the relieved gasp from your best friend next to you, hear the strained sob that comes from Rose as she turns to her girlfriend and clings to her in relief.

The rest of the party erupts into a celebratory clamor, and you’re tempted to join them except that Karkat is still just standing there, staring down at the spot that Noir’s body previously was. Leaving everyone else to congratulate each other, you step cautiously over towards the Blood Knight.

He may be on your side, but he’s still incredibly dangerous and unpredictable. You remember when he used to be human, like you, before the dark, tainted magic of the void consumed him. Now he’s hardly human at all, with gray skin and these little horns and claws and fangs. You miss when he was human, miss when you used to be friends.

But … events prior to this battle tore that away from you.

When he became corrupted by the void, he changed. He used to be optimistic in a unique way, used to be friendly and used to love everybody, but now he’s cold and hardened and you haven’t seen those old traits in him in a long time.

You grew apart when he began pushing everyone away, when he refused to trust you and told you he hated you but never told you why. He’s tried to kill you more than once for getting in the way, but a small part of you still likes to believe that, given the opportunity, he wouldn’t deal the killing blow.

You really fucking miss him. You _loved_ him.

His ears twitch as you approach him, the only hint at all that he’s aware of your presence at all. You come to stand at his side, albeit keeping a good three feet of space between you. His eyes turn to glance at you, but the rest of his head doesn’t move. It lasts only a moment, and then he shuts them completely and drops his head.

“What happens now?” You ask him. “Noir’s dead, the world is saved.” You don’t ask the unspoken question: _‘what will you do now?’_

He chuckles darkly. “Noir may be dead, but I highly fucking doubt that’s the last we’ll see of the void’s corruption.”

You frown at him, shaking your head. “Maybe, but I guess we’ll just have to deal with it when and if it comes at us again.” He opens his eyes a crack, staring seemingly at nothing, and doesn’t respond. “Right?” you press.

Before you can answer, your best friend is suddenly at your side, lightly grasping your arm. “Come on, Dave,” he says, and he sounds so relieved and exhausted after the long battle. “We need to get back before the portal closes. Jade says it’s already unstable from all the magic in this place.”

“Yeah, okay,” you answer with a nod, turning to follow him when he walks off.

The Blood Knight stays put, and when he doesn’t move after a few steps, you stop to turn back to him. “Karkat?” you question him, calling him by his old name in hopes that it might snap him out of whatever’s on his mind.

He doesn’t look at you. In fact, he completely turns his back on you.

“I’m not going with you,” he says, only just loud enough for you to hear.

Your heart skips a beat and you tense. He’s … staying behind? He’s staying here, in the farthest reaches of space on a void-touched planet? All alone? You have to forcefully swallow the emotional pain that makes it hard for you to breathe.

“What?” you breathe, your voice coming out a lot steadier than you feel. “What do you mean? Dude, you can’t just stay here on this planet all alone!” You take a step towards him. “C’mon, Karkat.”

He shakes his head. “I don’t belong there anymore, Dave. You know it as well as I do.”

“Bullshit,” you snap, but he’s right. You’re the only one left who has any faith at all in him, even though everyone who fought in the last battle tolerated him and accepted his allegiance only because he was willing to fight to the death for the same cause. They all used to be his friend, too, but they’ve all abandoned him.

You don’t want to abandon him too.

“Dave!” Jade calls frantically. You glance back to see that she’s the only one left, her hands held at an awkward angle as she holds open a portal, but you can see the way the magic to do so is starting to short circuit.

“Go, Dave.” Karkat says, and when you turn back to him again, he’s turned to look at you.

Your heart breaks. He’s always been so guarded in his feelings, but you know him well enough, even corrupted as he is, to see the anguish he’s trying to hide in his eyes. He doesn’t want to stay behind, but he knows he has to. He’s got no purpose going back to Earth with you. There’s nothing left there for him.

“Karkat …” you whisper his name, telling yourself that your voice doesn’t crack. “Don’t make me leave you. Please don’t.” You’re tearing up, but you don’t care. This entire exchange hurts, damn it! You still care for him, you spent more than half your life with him! You can’t just leave him behind to die alone!

For the first time since he became something not quite human, Karkat smiles at you. He steps up to you and before you can say anything else, meeting your gaze, and then his arms are around you and he’s hugging you close to him. He’s so much warmer than you remember …

You lean into his embrace and return it. You missed this. You missed _him_ , and if you go through that portal you’ll probably never see him again. You want to tell him that he’d still have a place on Earth, that you’d still be his friend, that you’d still care, but your mouth decides not to work.

Karkat doesn’t say anything either, but nor does he let go of you. For a long, long moment you’re in his arms and he’s in yours, and then he tenses and it’s the only warning you get before you’re flung backwards with such strength and force that you’re literally picked up off the ground.

He threw you.

Your body literally sails through the portal, and the last thing you see as it closes behind you when Jade follows is Karkat, standing in the center of a wrecked clearing, giving you a toothy grin that doesn’t reach his eyes. You think you see him say something, a small sentence, but you don’t hear his words before you’re swallowed up by the portal’s magic.


End file.
